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Voice of America, 02-02-12Voice of America: Selected Articles Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Voice of America <gopher://gopher.voa.gov>SLUG: 0-09702 Editorial - Challenge for Afghan Women DATE: NOTE NUMBER:CONTENTS
[01] EDITORIAL: CHALLENGE FOR AFGHAN WOMENDATE=02/12/2002TYPE=EDITORIAL NUMBER=0-09702 INTERNET=Yes CONTENT=THIS EDITORIAL IS BEING RELEASED FOR USE BY ALL SERVICES. Anncr: Next, an editorial expressing the policies of the United States Government: Voice: Four months ago, Afghan medical doctor Sima Samar [see-mah sah-mahr] was a refugee from the despotic rule of the Taleban. "I am still in love with that country," she told a Western correspondent. "I am dreaming of going back." That dream is now a reality, thanks to Afghan resistance forces and the United States-led coalition that drove the Taleban and their al-Qaida terrorist allies from power. Dr. Samar is the new minister of women's affairs for Afghanistan's interim government. When the Taleban seized Kabul in 1996, Dr. Samar was appalled at their cruelty. "There were no hospitals for women," she said, "no facilities for" childbirth. Dr. Samar had established several hospitals and clinics, and dozens of schools for girls in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Taleban leaders ordered her to close the schools and threatened her with violence. She responded, "Hang me and announce my crimes: 'she is giving pens and pencils and papers to girls.'" When the Taleban decreed that girls could be educated only up to the sixth grade, Dr. Samar changed the classroom numbering so that grade twelve became grade six. In 1998, two of her hospitals were bombed by the Taleban. Taleban officials threatened her with death for treating women and wounded Northern Alliance soldiers. Dr. Samar is one of many brave Afghan women. They include Dr. Suhaila Siddiqa [soo-high-lah sih-deek], now Afghanistan's minister of health. She also defied the Taleban by providing health care and schooling to Afghan women and girls. Before the Taleban seized power, thirty percent of the civil servants and seventy percent of the teachers in Afghanistan's major cities were women. Driven from these professions and made virtual prisoners in their homes, Afghan women are now working to rebuild their shattered country. There is much to do. Ninety percent of Afghan women are illiterate. Some one-million are widows -- many with children to feed. Life expectancy for women in Afghanistan is low. The U.S. and other donors are ready to assist in Afghanistan's recovery. That recovery must include freedom and dignity for Afghan women. Anncr: That was an editorial expressing the policies of the United States Government. If you have a comment, please write to Editorials, V-O-A, Washington, D-C, 20237, U-S-A. You may also comment at www-dot-ibb-dot-gov-slash-editorials, or fax us at (202) 619-1043. SLUG: 6-125567 Editorial Digest (02-12) DATE: NOTE NUMBER: [02] TUESDAY'S EDITORIALS BY ANDREW GUTHRIE (WASHINGTON)DATE=02/12/02TYPE=U-S EDITORIAL DIGEST NUMBER=6-125567 INTERNET=YES EDITOR=ASSIGNMENTS TELEPHONE=619-3335 CONTENT= INTRO: Several American newspapers are commenting on the fate of former Yugoslavian President Slobodan Milosevic as his genocide trial opens today in the Hague. Other commentaries deal with this week's big vote in the U-S Congress on campaign finance reform; justice is done in Egypt; the Pakistani leader visits Washington; and the wonder of athletic conditioning at the Winter Olympics underway in Utah. Now, here with a closer look is _______________ and today's U-S Editorial Digest. TEXT: A trial that several news organizations are calling the most important judicial proceeding in Europe since the Nurenmberg War Crimes trials, has begun in the Hague. In the dock: Former Yugoslavian President Slobodan Milosevic, accused of various crimes against humanity, including genocide. In Oklahoma City, The Oklahoman notes: VOICE: He will be the first head of state ever tried for war crimes, basically accused of leading a genocidal operation designed to cleanse Croats, Muslims and Albanians from lands he believed should be devoted only to ethnic Serbs. ...More than 200-thousand people are believed to have died in wars that ... accompanied the dissolution of greater Yugoslavia. Yet last month [Mr.] Milosevic declared his innocence, claiming the proceedings ...[are] a "malicious, utterly hostile process aimed at justifying the crime against my country, using this court as a weapon against my country and my people." ... The frightening thing is a number of people think [Mr.] Milosevic might beat the rap (be found not guilty) ... We pray justice will be done. TEXT: Following up on that assessment, the Chicago Tribune suggests: VOICE: The most shameless trait of Slobodan Milosevic ... [is that] He still thinks, or at least claims, that he is the victim. That would be humorous if it were not obscene. ... The Hague tribunal should not be deterred by [Mr.] Milosevic's tantrums nor by an obstructionist Yugoslav government still withholding some crucial military records. [Mr.] Milosevic is finally going to face his accusers. He will have an opportunity never afforded to his victims ... to defend himself. TEXT: In Western Pennsylvania, The Greensburg Tribune-Review is also pleased that finally, the former Yugoslav leader has been brought to trial. VOICE: The day of justice has arrived for ... The "Butcher of Belgrade" ... At least we hope it has. ... Even among the most strident Milosevic haters, there is deep concern if prosecutor Carla Del Ponte can produce evidence directly linking [Mr.] Milosevic to the slaughter ... There is little, if anything, in the way of a "paper trail." ... Justice has been a long time coming in this case. Here is hoping it is served, truly and verily. [Mr.] Milosevic's victims and humanity itself deserve no less. TEXT: Domestically, much attention is focused on a vote (Wednesday) in the House of Representatives on a campaign finance reform bill. In Minnesota, The Minneapolis Star Tribune is relieved the measure will finally draw a vote. VOICE: At long last, the House will have a chance to vote ... on the ... bill. That is the House companion to the already-passed Senate bill ... It would prohibit the rivers of unregulated "soft money" that flow from corporations and wealthy donors to political parties, the sort of soft money that Enron Corporation excelled at giving as it sought ... legislative favors. This bill, repeatedly bottled up and sidetracked by House Republican leaders, is needed more than ever as the Enron debacle demonstrates. ... The importance of staunching the flow of soft money can not be overstated. TEXT: Another tie-in to the Enron collapse is made by The Palm Beach Post. VOICE: Ex-Enron C-E-O Kenneth Lay will appear before a Senate committee ..., but refuse to answer questions. Some House members, evasive in their own way, will try to dodge campaign finance reforms the Enron scandal shows are necessary. TEXT: Calling this a "defining moment," The [Trenton, New Jersey] Times says: "What the House ... does this week may well determine whether the influence of big-money political contributors on the country's governance will be brought under some kind of control." Internationally, there is more praise today for a high Egyptian court in Cairo which overturned a lower court ruling, widely consider unjust in the west against a famed crusader for Democracy. Says The Los Angeles Times: VOICE: For a quarter of a century Saad Eddin Ibrahim has been a lonely voice in Egypt, promoting democratic ideas and religious freedom while incurring the wrath of officials. Two-years ago authorities arrested him ...[for] receiving illegal funds from the European Commission to monitor elections... His real "crime" was criticizing the government. After a six-month trial that included thousands of pages of evidence, a high court judge took little more than an hour to pronounce Ibrahim guilty and sentence him to seven-years at hard labor. Last week a Cairo appeals court overturned the conviction. ...The government should call off its vendetta and drop the charges ... recognizing that dissent is not treason and that as a society becomes more open it becomes stronger. TEXT: Pakistan leader General Pervez Musharraf's visit to Washington draws this comment from The Washington Post. VOICE: Any political boost he reaps from his scheduled White House meeting with President Bush will be largely justified. Mr. Musharraf's cooperation has been instrumental to the military campaign in Afghanistan, and his strong public initiative to arrest and reverse the mounting influence of Islamic extremists in Pakistan may prove even more important over time. But the general's visit needs to be more than a love fest. For all he has done ... the Bush administration should match the political and economic rewards it offers him with concerted pressure to move ahead. TEXT: The Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah draws several comments. The New York Times marvels at how unforgiving athletics can be to these finely trained athletes who win or lose in one-one-hundreth of a second. VOICE: In many of the games ... everything rides on a muscular twitch, a series of minute carefully programmed responses that have been rehearsed again and again. At speed, in the downhill [ski race] for instance, there is no time to think... because thought is too slow, too unresponsive. ... No behind-the-scenes profile can quite capture the way an athlete tries to turn the body into mind and the mind into body, until they are working completely as one. TEXT: With that tribute to the Olympic athletes and their incredible
training, we conclude this editorial sampling of the U-S press.
[03] EDITORIAL: ABRAHAM LINCOLNDATE=02/12/2002TYPE=EDITORIAL NUMBER=0-09701 INTERNET=Yes CONTENT=THIS EDITORIAL IS BEING RELEASED FOR USE BY ALL SERVICES. PLEASE NOTE THAT IT IS TIME-SENSITIVE AND SHOULD BE USED TODAY ONLY. Anncr: Next, an editorial reflecting American ideals and institutions: Voice: February 12th is the anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth president of the United States. Born in 1809 in the wilderness of Kentucky, Lincoln eventually settled in Illinois. His formal schooling was minimal. He grew up, for the most part, teaching himself to read and write. Lincoln held many jobs. He worked on a farm. He served in the local militia. He took a flatboat, loaded with cargo, down the Mississippi River. He was elected to the Illinois state legislature, became a lawyer, and served in the U-S House of Representatives. His law partner said, "His ambition was a little engine that knew no rest." Abraham Lincoln earned a reputation as a superb orator. In 1858, he lost a race for the U-S Senate. But his debating skills made him a national figure and helped him win the 1860 presidential election. The major issue, slavery, had led to a bitter division between the northern and southern states. The South wanted to continue the practice of using blacks as slaves on agricultural plantations. In the North, a movement to abolish this abhorrent institution was gaining strength. In his Inaugural Address in March 1861, President Lincoln said that "in view of the Constitution and the laws, the Union is unbroken; and to the extent of my ability I shall take care. . .that the laws of the Union be faithfully executed in all the states." Though Lincoln's words were powerful, the southern states seceded. Abraham Lincoln led America through four years of civil war. "We have," he said, "a free government, where every man has a right to be equal with every other man. In this great struggle, this form of government and every form of human right is endangered if our enemies succeed." But they did not. The South was defeated. Slavery was abolished and the United States preserved. A re-elected President Lincoln, in his second Inaugural Address, in March 1865, called for "malice toward none" and "charity for all. . .to bind up the nation's wounds. . .[and] achieve. . .a just and lasting peace." But in April 1865, Lincoln was assassinated by a southern sympathizer and actor named John Wilkes Booth. Edwin Stanton, Secretary of War, said, "Now he belongs to the ages." Abraham Lincoln is remembered for ending slavery and preserving the United States. He is also revered for the strength of his character and his convictions. His words remain valid today: "Those who deny freedom to others," he said, "deserve it not for themselves; and, under a just God, cannot long retain it." Anncr: That was an editorial reflecting American ideals and institutions. If you have a comment, please write to Editorials, V-O-A, Washington, D-C, 20237, U-S-A. You may also comment at www-dot-ibb-dot-gov-slash-editorials, or fax us at (202) 619-1043. SLUG: 0-09701 Editorial - Abraham Lincoln DATE: NOTE NUMBER: [04] EDITORIAL: ABRAHAM LINCOLNDATE=02/12/2002TYPE=EDITORIAL NUMBER=0-09701 INTERNET=Yes CONTENT=THIS EDITORIAL IS BEING RELEASED FOR USE BY ALL SERVICES. PLEASE NOTE THAT IT IS TIME-SENSITIVE AND SHOULD BE USED TODAY ONLY. Anncr: Next, an editorial reflecting American ideals and institutions: Voice: February 12th is the anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth president of the United States. Born in 1809 in the wilderness of Kentucky, Lincoln eventually settled in Illinois. His formal schooling was minimal. He grew up, for the most part, teaching himself to read and write. Lincoln held many jobs. He worked on a farm. He served in the local militia. He took a flatboat, loaded with cargo, down the Mississippi River. He was elected to the Illinois state legislature, became a lawyer, and served in the U-S House of Representatives. His law partner said, "His ambition was a little engine that knew no rest." Abraham Lincoln earned a reputation as a superb orator. In 1858, he lost a race for the U-S Senate. But his debating skills made him a national figure and helped him win the 1860 presidential election. The major issue, slavery, had led to a bitter division between the northern and southern states. The South wanted to continue the practice of using blacks as slaves on agricultural plantations. In the North, a movement to abolish this abhorrent institution was gaining strength. In his Inaugural Address in March 1861, President Lincoln said that "in view of the Constitution and the laws, the Union is unbroken; and to the extent of my ability I shall take care. . .that the laws of the Union be faithfully executed in all the states." Though Lincoln's words were powerful, the southern states seceded. Abraham Lincoln led America through four years of civil war. "We have," he said, "a free government, where every man has a right to be equal with every other man. In this great struggle, this form of government and every form of human right is endangered if our enemies succeed." But they did not. The South was defeated. Slavery was abolished and the United States preserved. A re-elected President Lincoln, in his second Inaugural Address, in March 1865, called for "malice toward none" and "charity for all. . .to bind up the nation's wounds. . .[and] achieve. . .a just and lasting peace." But in April 1865, Lincoln was assassinated by a southern sympathizer and actor named John Wilkes Booth. Edwin Stanton, Secretary of War, said, "Now he belongs to the ages." Abraham Lincoln is remembered for ending slavery and preserving the United States. He is also revered for the strength of his character and his convictions. His words remain valid today: "Those who deny freedom to others," he said, "deserve it not for themselves; and, under a just God, cannot long retain it." Anncr: That was an editorial reflecting American ideals and institutions. If you have a comment, please write to Editorials, V-O-A, Washington, D-C, 20237, U-S-A. You may also comment at www-dot-ibb-dot-gov-slash-editorials, or fax us at (202) 619-1043. Voice of America: Selected Articles Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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